My 6-month keto diet experiment plan and starting stats
My initial post covered my nutritional journey till this point. I’ve decided to commit to a strict 6 month ketogenic diet, tracking and publishing all that can I to document the process. Why? To assist in my quest for peak performance and to do away with brain fog. The larger mission is to potentially prove optimal health can be achieved with the ketogenic diet, and to demonstrate and inspire with a journey of refinement to arrive at a diet that works for you.
Started: Sunday 28th May 2017
Ending: 28th December 2017
The starting plan
- 75% Fat, 20% Protein, 5% Carbs daily
- Around 20g Carbs daily
- Around 100g Protein daily
- Fibre is included in the 20g limit (as opposed to a net carb limit)
- No coffee or energy drinks
- Supplements: Magnesium, Potassium, Vitamin B and Vitamin D, Multi-vitamin
- 2–3 workouts weekly: Tabata and 5x5x5 weights
- Intermittent fasting on weekdays with a 16/8 eating window (~9pm till 1pm)
- Approximately 1800 calories daily
How is this to be tracked?
- Daily eating tracked with MyFitnessPal
- Workouts and body measurements tracked in Google Sheets
- Blood tests with Thriva once at the beginning of the experiment, middle (3 months in) and end of experiment (at 6 months)
- Ketone and blood sugar levels checked with the Freestyle Opium Neo ketone monitor every Thursday at 10am, and again 2 hours after dinner at a minimum. Tracked in Google Sheets.
- Boditrax data from a Tanita SC 240MA. Body check carried out at gym every Thursday (for accurate body fat, weight, visceral fat, bone mass and more stats)
- Intermittent fasting tracked with Zero app
- Sleep patterns, resting heart rate, daily steps taken and more tracked with the Fitbit Charge 2
- Productivity tracking with RescueTime and 45-minute Pomodoro intervals (with Tomato One Mac app)
- Tracking energy mental performance is more difficult, but I shall continue to journal daily, and will post an update once a week on this blog
- Follow me for daily updates Twitter and Instagram
In a subsequent blog post I’ll be covering the details on the above — why I have chosen those limits, the various supplements and their doses, my workouts and more. The plan will be tweaked throughout the journey as I increase my own learning, and I look forward to sharing the changes I make and why.
Despite being a little squeamish, in a bid to learn as much as I can over the next few months, I’ll be undergoing blood tests, having subscribed to a London based service called Thriva. You’re sent a kit in the post to fill a small container with blood, send your results in and they perform a range of tests including vitamin D, cholesterol levels and a heap more. Every aspect of this experiment will be public, from the blood test results to the workouts.
Starting measurements
Taken on Day 4, 1st June 2017 at 2pm, having fasted all morning.
Tracked using the Boditrax system via a body check at my gym.
Starting blood test results
These results were produced by Thriva, as part of their baseline subscription. My blood sample was taken on June 1st, on day 5 of the experiment. Interesting here is the initial high LDL reading, and the recommendation to reduce my fats, which comes at a time where I’m ramping them up for the next six months. Here are screenshots from my Thriva account:
HbA1c (three-month blood glucose average)
Cholesterol
Vitamin D
Iron
Liver function
Thyroid
The above reveals some concerning results: that I may have an under-active thyroid, and potentially signals one of the factors behind my woes. I’ll be commenting more on this in my first weekly update.
Week 1 — Tabata stats
- Push ups — 114
- Kettle bell swings — 16kg x 95
- Dips — 33
- Pull ups — 32
- Plank — 8 rounds
- Burpees — 32
A Tabata workout is a form of high-intensity interval training. Here I do 8 hours of each exercise, in turn, with a 10 second break between each round
Week 1 — 5x5x5 stats
- Bench Press — 60kg
- Squats — 80kg
- Isolation Bicep curls — 30kg
- Deadlift Frame (exc frame) — 60kg
- Overhead Press — 25kg x 5
The 5x5x5 workout is where you carry out each exercise in turn, performing 5 sets of 5 reps of each. The first set or two are usually lower than the current max for me, with the last 3 aiming to set a personal best.
Anything else you’d like to see me track? Hit me up in the comments below.
So what came before? I’ve eaten a low-carb, Paleo inspired diet for much of the past couple of years. My macros varied around 50% fat, 30% carbs and 20% protein. On an average of two social events a week, I’d relax the rules and indulge in a burger and a drink or two. I’d occasionally slip and quickly make a habit of an afternoon diet coke or some other pick me up. On the couple of holidays a year, carb intake would inevitably skyrocket. But generally, I’ve eaten what I believe to be a diet pretty standard for the health-conscious individual.
My underlying belief with regards to my diet, was that I had figured out ‘the right way’ that I should be eating, it was just a case of adherence. The general lack of strict consistency over the long term, is in large part thanks to all too often being caught off-guard by hunger or fatigue. It’s these two key symptoms that I hope this keto experiment will do away with.
Workout wise, the last few months have been alternating between running, 5x5x5 weights workouts and Tabata sessions — although in the month before this Keto experiment, 5x5x5 workouts have been few and far between. My relationship with coffee (which included Bulletproof Coffee) has been on and off for many years. My last coffee was about six weeks ago. The supplements in my keto plan match what I have been taking for a while now. Intermittent fasting is a more recent change, having been introduced in the past month, and representative of a determined approach I’ve come to, which has culminated in this experiment.
The key change here, as I embark on this journey — is the significant change to my macronutrients with a goal to enter the state of ketosis and become keto-adapted.
Why the Keto Coder project?
Initially I was hesitant to under go this experiment in public. After all, I’m a full time programmer, why should anyone care? But with a little more thought, the reasons are plentiful and I believe it’s important that I do so, for many reasons including the following:
- Easily the most significant reason for doing this, is the hope to inspire others to take steps to improve their own lifestyle. I have had huge satisfaction and success in supporting those around me adopting a healthier way of living and achieving this on scale is a dream.
- All scientists and ketogenic advocates I follow are based in the United States. A UK perspective is in short supply, making it difficult at times to know which UK brands of products should be purchased, where are the best places to eat for the Keto conscious, and insight into the UK perspective of industry and government with regards to the ketogenic diet and nutrition in general.
- I see value in following the life of a working professional who adopts a ketogenic lifestyle. Demonstrating insight into how well ketosis works ‘in the field’, away from the lab, for someone working a 9 to 5 in a city like London, without access to the same resources as those in academia.
- Through tracking of everything I eat, taking blood tests, tracking ketone levels, my weight, body fat etc I hope to increasingly make this experiment one which is credible and one which perhaps we can all learn from, not just myself. By collecting and publishing as much data as I can, I hope to take the evidence as far as I can beyond mere anecdote.
- Being a professional technologist and an aspiring data scientist, I hope to bring the two fields together and increasingly explore the potential. Companies such as Thriva are demonstrating the potential where technology and nutrition intersect and I know this is just the very start.
- Last but not least: this blog will hold me accountable. It’ll help give me increased focus, knowing that I’m not doing this alone, but as part of the community, and give extra incentive to doubling down on my research to ensure what I say and do has the best chance of success.
I shall make every effort to prevent being a voice which adds to the mis-information that the internet is flooded with. Thus a part of this journey will be exploring the means by which to interpret scientific studies, and with any specific claims or recommendations going forward, I’ll be providing references for all, and making it explicit when I’m stating an opinion based on my own experiences. I welcome comments of any kind, providing they are constructive.
How to follow me?
@theketocoder on Instagram. I’ve never been an active Instagram user, but for this experiment, and the loving relationship Instagram has with food — I feel it’d be a good fit and so I shall be embracing it fully. I’ll be sharing what I eat, the supplements I take, the workouts etc — all in a bid to better document the process. I hope to fully reassure you that in no way does eating keto mean your meals won’t be lip-smackingly tasty.
@ketocoder on Twitter. For updates, thoughts and retweets from the most respected in the keto world. Feel free to reach out to me there!
First week update coming this Sunday!
Will I become a ketogenic advocate or will I ultimately decide against it? What is certain, is that this shall be a learning experience — for readers almost as much as myself. Let’s begin!
